Meet the Twins Of Erotic Horror!
Some of the best horror films of the 70’s had unique twists, either in the plots or in the casting of the movie itself and here’s one of the most entertaining cases of the stars making the film!
Mary and Madeleine Collinson were Playboy’s Playmates of the Month in October 1970 – the first identical twin Playmate sisters!
So of course, an enterprising Producer put them in a horror film that was all about twins: “Twins Of Evil!”
Welcome to “Shocktober” Day #13 – this time, not an unlucky number at all!
Time For The “Terror Twins!”
Let’s take a look at Mary and Madeleine’s Hammer film foray into erotic horror in the early 70’s!
Twins of Evil (1971) – AKA “Twins Of Dracula!”
“A New Era Of Vampires – Unrestricted Terror!”
Yes, this film was so popular they released it with two different titles! I love the use of the word “unrestricted” – because, as the trailer shows, they were going to be provocative to be sure! Let’s check it out:
“Twins of Evil” starred Horror legend Peter Cushing, along with the real-life twins and former Playboy Playmates Mary and Madeleine Collinson.
The plot is similar to many of these medieval horror films: a religious sect is hunting all women suspected of witchcraft. Young Katy gets involved in a devilish cult, and her twin is put in danger as a result!
Provocative Promotion!
Yes, the Collinson twins had been in Playboy in October, 1970 – and Hammer spied a smart commercial idea when they saw one – put them in a horror movie and make them wear lots of lingerie!
It is the third film of The Karnstein Trilogy, based on the vampire tale “Carmilla” by Sheridan Le Fanu. The film has the least resemblance to the novel and adds a witch hunting theme to the vampire story.
Much of the interest of the film revolves around the contrasting evil and good natures of two beautiful sisters, Frieda and Maria Gellhorn. Of course, all of the publicity shots focused on the twins in all their sexy glory…
The plot allowed plenty of opportunity for the girls to undress – and of course, for one of them to be very very EVIL…
Here’s some fun trivia: since Mary and Madeleine were from Malta and still had thick Maltese accents, Hammer had all of their dialog replaced by British performers!
Problem solved!
“Twins Of Evil” was very popular – and is a fun way to celebrate “Shocktober” – and surprisingly, there is minimal nudity in the film, because it was at this time that Hammer really pushed the erotic horror angle to great success!
This era of Hammer horror, which added an erotic element to the films, was very popular in the early 70’s…like this terrific gothic horror entry:
Cult Movie Queen Ingrid Pitt starred in another of the Hammer classics, “Countess Dracula”…you can click here to see more provocative photos and the film’s trailer:
Here’s another great “Hammer Glamour Queen”:
Madeleine Smith had a great run of films as well worth checking out – see them all here:
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Leave me a message letting me know if you ever saw the twins in action!
Categories: 70's Films, Camp Cult Classics, Classic Horror, Exploitation Films, Grindhouse, Horror films, JRsploitation, Nudity, sex kittens, Talent / Celebrites, Uncategorized
JR-Sploitation! 
I did really enjoy that film, and still watch it whenever it is shown on TV.
I knew about the dubbed voices, but was unaware that they had been Playboy models, so thanks for the extra background, John. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I enjoyed these gothic horror stories…since there is nothing old here in LA, it’s nice to visit a place that evokes history!
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Interesting that this, along with some other interesting Hammers, has made it to Amazon Prime now. Years ago, when Twins still hadn’t gotten a US video release, I recall reading that there was some question about how old the girls were when they did the Playboy spread and possibly the film itself (the implication being that it might be breaking US law). Either my memory is faulty or the issue got cleared up — time and/or $$ will often do that.
Anyway, saw this fairly recently, and liked it a bit more than the first time I saw it. However, Peter Cushing’s zealous witchhunter is offputting — he’s more of a monster than the vampires, who just want to have some fun. : )
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